Tag Archives: St James Park weather station

I’ve put together a few top 10s of stats for Wanstead, St James’s Park and Heathrow for the month of March.

The month, the first of the meteorological spring can offer really contrasting weather; perishing cold and very pleasant warmth are both very possible, as the values show.

Probably most notable in the list is the cold March of 1962 which was the coldest of the 20th century and 11th coldest in a local list going back to 1797. March 2013 was also very cold. Strong winds from deep depressions often feature as does the odd blizzard.

Marches in the 1960s also appear to often start very cold and end very warm; the term ‘In like a lion, out like a lamb’ being very appropriate.
•Though this blog only covers extremes back to 1959, thanks to Met Office digitised data, I’ve unearthed records prior to this. Both W.A.L Marshall’s A Century of London Weather (covering 1841 to 1941) and J. H. Brazell’s London Weather (covering 1841 to 1964) confirm the coldest March day as the 13th in 1845 when 25F (-3.9C) was recorded at Greenwich.

The coldest March minimum was 4/5 in 1909 with 9F (-12.8C) at Epsom. Greenwich and Hampstead recorded 14F (-10C)

I’ve put together a few top 10s of stats for Wanstead, St James’s Park and Heathrow for the month of February.

Probably most notable is the cold February of 1991 which saw the deepest snowfall I can remember – days of snow saw the level depth past my knee in suburban London. February 1986 was also very cold but also very dry with little snow.

Februaries in the 1990s were also often warm with 19.7C being reached in Wanstead on 13th in 1998.

It is a shame that the Met Office only publishes easy to access daily data in Excel format back to 1959 as this obviously omits the classic snowy February of 1947 which is worth a blog on its own.

Like this:

I’ve put together a few top 10s of stats for Wanstead, St James’s Park and Heathrow for the month of January.

Probably most notable is just how impressive the depth of cold was during the cold spell of 1987. When considering St James’s Park the temperature on the 12th never rose above -6C: nearly 4C colder than any January day in 1963, the coldest winter in modern times.

In terms of climatology November maxima, considering the 1981-2010 average, shows a steady fall until the 15th. And another steady fall to the 22nd before things level off. This would reflect the November singularities; St Martin’s Summer, between 15th and 21st, peaking on the 18th, occurs in 66 per cent of years. The Early December storms singularity can arrive this month, on the 24th, the air off the Atlantic raising the mean temperature.

The average rainfall graphic shows that downpour amounts are variable through the month. A tendency for dry weather around the 15th reflects the St Martin’s Summer singularity.

This graphic shows the average 9am air pressure in November since 2013.

weather station feed

Clouds and cloudscapes

Looking north toward Aldersbrook. The Flats, a 186 hectare open space that is a larger than Hyde Park, can be very exposed during a thunderstorm

20/05/2017

01/05/2017 crepsular rays

Summer overlooking The Temple in Wanstead Park

10/05/2017 pink cirrus

Taken on 11/11/2017 at 1600 as a cold front cleared I managed to capture the remnants of a Kelvin-Helmholtz cloud

Rooster cloud

26/08/2017 sundogs

The view across to St Paul’s from Bankside at low tide.

5/5/2017 rotation

Autumn overlooking The Temple in Wanstead Park

15/06/2017 doll cloud

Convective clouds build over Wanstead Flats

24/04/2017 altocumulus

6/7/2017 sun and cirrus

Sunsets

Sunset on Wanstead Flats

It was a month with some amazing sunsets. This one, on April 30th, happened just as the sky cleared before dusk

A stunning example of sunlight illuminating the underside of cloud at sunset was seen mid-month

Typical April days of sunshine and showers were in short supply. There were some stunning sunsets, including this one on the 30th

I took this yesterday evening. Windless, still and humid at ground level it was fascinating to look skyward and see the multi-level cloud continue to build into strange shapes, illuminated from below by the setting sun. A wonderful weekend for cloudspotting.

sunset overlooking Wanstead Flats 2nd August

Sunset Southwark Bridge

Sunset on 31st looking across Wanstead Flats. July was a classic summer month for weather

With the sun lower in the sky at this time of year there’s often a great opportunity for a decent sunset

Satellite images

Ophelia

Both the 2013 storm, left, and the 1987 storm followed a similar track as shown on these satellite pictures

On 25th a perfect curl could be seen on a depression centred off the west coast of Irleland. The rain associated with this low pressure brought the month’s highest daily rainfall total: 23.4mm (the system bringing 27.5mm) – a thoroughly miserable Bank Holiday Monday where it rained ALL day, from 6am until 9.30pm. It was yet another example of how much even frontal rainfall can vary over a small area.

This satellite picture taken on December 27th, 2014, shows the LP clearing through to leave us in clear, deep cold air